"London Under" is a wonderful, atmospheric, imaginative short study of everything that goes on under London, from original springs and streams and Roman amphitheaters to Victorian sewers, gang hideouts, and modern tube stations.

In Thames: the Biography, Ackroyd writes about connections between the Thames and such historical figures as Julius Caesar and Henry VIII, and offers memorable portraits of the ordinary men and women who depend on the river for their livelihoods. He visits all the towns and villages along the river, from Oxfordshire to London, and describes the magnificent royal residences, as well as the bridges and docks, locks and weirs, found along its 215-mile...

In early August 1889, Cesar Ritz, a Swiss hotelier highly regarded for his exquisite taste, found himself at the Savoy Hotel in London. He had come at the request of Richard D'Oyly Carte, the financier of Gilbert & Sullivan's comic operas, who had modernized theater and was now looking to create the world's best hotel. D'Oyly Carte soon seduced Ritz to move to London with his team, which included Auguste Escoffier, the chef de cuisine known for his...

St. Paul's Cathedral stands at the heart of London, an enduring symbol of the city. Less well known is the neighborhood at its base that hummed with life for over a thousand years, becoming a theater for debate and protest, knowledge and gossip. For the first time Margaret Willes tells the full story of the area. She explores the dramatic religious debates at Paul's Cross, the bookshops where Shakespeare came in search of inspiration, and the theater...

"In June 1701, a young widow wakes up in a hotel room in Paris and finds a man in her bed. Within hours they are married. Yet three weeks later, the bride flees to London and swears that she had never agreed to the wedding. So begins one of the most intriguing stories of madness, tragic passion and the curse of inheritance. Inheritance charts the forgotten life of Mary Davies, born in London during the Great Plague of 1665, and the fate of the land...

This is the story of London as told through the buildings, parks and other features that are no longer with us. The author covers everything from buried rivers to demolished landmarks, long-shut Tube stations to overgrown cemeteries, underground Roman streets to abandoned bunkers and tunnels, demolished churches and long-defunct pleasures and sights and sounds.

A miscellany of facts about London's history, culture, and architecture shares lesser-known legends and adventures pertaining to such subjects as the church steeple that inspired the traditional wedding cake and London's first nude statue.

Long heralded as a city treasure herself, expert "mudlarker" Lara Maiklem is uniquely trained in the art of seeking. Tirelessly trekking across miles of the Thames' muddy shores, where others only see the detritus of city life, Maiklem unearths evidence of England's captivating, if sometimes murky, history--with some objects dating back to 43 AD, when London was but an outpost of the Roman Empire. From medieval mail worn by warriors on English battlefields...